The apparition of this XVIII-century cemetery followed construction of the Sant Francesc Xavier church, consecrated in 1738. Although the exact date of the cemetery's construction remains unknown, historical documentation indicates the structure was already in place in 1757. The presence of death records indicates use of the site could date back to 1744. It was the only such place on the island until 1784-1788, when another cemetery was conceived for La Mola. More than a century later, in 1903, a third was established in the town of Sant Ferran de ses Roques. El fossar Vell (literally, 'the old burial ground') de Sant Francesc was used until September 1940, after which point Formentera's departed were buried in the new cemetery, the construction of this having begun two years prior.
The original structure was rectangular and measured eighteen by fifteen metres. On the side nearest the church, a door and frontispiece stood at the centre. The northwest corner coincided with the western edge of the half square league that King Carlos II ceded to Marc Ferrer in 1695. In 1839, the cemetery was expanded at its western and southern walls, essentially giving the site its current shape: an almost-square 22 x 22 metres. The cemetery's five chapels were constructed between the close of the nineteenth and turn of the twentieth century.
How to get there:
Carrer de Sant Joan. Sant Francesc (map)
Free admission
M. Castelló's photos
